Ok, here is the skinny...I purchased a 2006 700 (carb not efi and it is yellow) from a friend of mine. He was the original owner and only put 42 hours on it. Only thing I have done to it so far is cosmetic, nothing to upgrade the engine or exhaust....yet. At 100 hours it developed a sputter so I went to the polaris dealership and bought the 100 hour service kit. This included oil, oil filter, fluids, and drive train fluids. I also purchased a fuel filter, air fillter, and spark plugs since the quad sat for a few months. Yes, I did change the battery when I purchased the bike. After the servicing everything was fine but that sputter was still there. I pulled the carb to clean it out since it did sit for a few months to clean all the trash and deposits out of it but I really didn't see anything in it and the bowl was spotless except for some powdery residue which I cleaned out. Reinstalled everything and it wouldn't idle after that so I called my friend and fellow motorcycle rider, who happen to be a mechanic but now designs fighter jets for the military, and asked him to give me a hand in repulling the carb, breaking it down completely, and cleaning the jets. I trailered it over and we did this. The quad idled fine, turned it off, had some pizza, then I decided I better take it for a test spin. When I did I noticed the sputter again. Since then I replaced the coil and I found out the ecm had never been replaced for the 2008 recall. I even pulled the muffler in case of carb build up but after a trip around the yard it sputtered again upon accelerating. I can start it, give it a few seconds to warm up, try to ride but it acts up when I try to really get into it even at slow acceleration it tends to sputter. Almost like a revlimiter. I am hitting a wall here. Short of replacing the ignition I do not know what else it could be. I would gladly pull my hair out but I don't have any...HHEELLPPP!!!!

 

Welcome to the forum! Sounds like you have a lot of it covered ,but did you replace any parts in the carb when you cleaned it like the needle and seat and o-ring,checked the float arm and float pin for any wobble or wear? Plus did you clean the needle jet nozzle thoroughly,have the float arm parallel with the carb body and make sure the air jet at the top of the carb was clear and open? Also I've had a few that the vent tube that curved at the top of the carb would either kink a little or air flow blocked by the foam for the air box and clutch air intake tubes which could cause em to starve a little for air. Have you checked the fuel tank vent itself for any kinks that could restrict air flow? Also over a period of time the inside of fuel hoses can start to deteriorate and small specs can partially stop up jets,get under the needle and seats and cause problems. Did you notice any black specs in the fuel bowl when you first pulled the carb bowl? Plus can do the same thing to the fuel pump too. Have you pulled the fuel line from the carb and cranked the engine over and checked that the fuel was pulsing out good? Also you can experiment with slide needle position and see if helps? It does have the newer Kokusan ignition system which didn't give many problems compared to the earlier Ducati ignition,but have you pulled the stator cover and cleaned around the stator and pulser coil? I'm about all thought out right now Keep us updated. P S. Forgot one thing!! The 700 was bad about the intake manifold cracking under the carb clamp. Most people never pull the clamp off to check for any splits. OPT

 

wow! well, guess i will print this and start crossing stuff off. i do know when i pulled the fuel line to the carb it was running clear. nothing small and black in the bowl either. only thing i found in the carb bowl was a fine, yellow, powdery residue but a very thin coat. could still see the metal. as far as the jets i let my friend do that since he has the most experience in that area. the floats looked fine and seemed to work fine. i will check that top vent line though. never touched that filter. thanks again for the ideas and i will start today. i will post back if i find anything.

 

sorry it has been a while since my last post but i have been waiting for parts and doing some more research. i have found my problem and it seems to be in the carb. i ordered a rebuild kit and went ahead and ordered a stage 1 jet (which i have not installed yet). figured if i had it apart might as well install it. finally got a chance with no interuptions to pull the carb completely apart. i noticed the pilot jet (lower end of carb) was a bit dirty again so i compared it to the new one. wow what a differece! i installed the new one and went ahead and installed the 1.5 (push in) valve-needle (sitting here looking at a break down of the carb with part numbers while i type this). i even forced some carb spray through the pilot jet hole while i had it out and noticed it wasn't flowing too well. took a large can to finally get some spray flowing through. put everything back together and started it. had to mess with the idle a bit but i got it running. you can tell a world of difference now! i still have a low end sputter though but at least the quad isn't losing power or bogging down. i am currently waiting on the quad to cool down and i am going to pull the carb off again and do a full rebuild for the hell of it. also going to go back and revisit the pilot jet passage again to make sure i have gotten all the trash out. i will get new plugs as well in the off chance i fouled one of the new ones i just put in from the dealership.

 

If they gave you Champion plugs at the dealer,chunk em or trade em in for NGK BKR7ES plugs. Champions will just end up fouling. Be sure to check under the carb clamp for a split intake manifold if you haven't already done so. Good luck with the carb. OPT

 

oh wow, didn't know that about champion. i did check under the carb clamp and everything looks good. i will let you know once i have everything and do another test run.

 

are the ngk bkr5e or bkr5es ok? checked a local honda shop since my nearest polaris dealer is a 45 minute drive. lady at the parts counter said she can a bkr7e but there is no "s" at the end. wondering if they have changed the plugs.

<edit> also do you know of a good site i can order them from? no place near me has them in stock or they have never heard of them. having them shipped to my door would save me some time and gas money.

 

Sorry! BKR7E NGK Gap at .036 OPT

 

ok, got the plugs in today and installed at .036. defantly took out some of the lower end spudder but there is still some there. right about 1/4 throttle and it smells like it is running a little rich. is there an adjustment somewhere on the carb for the fuel? also the plugs i pulled out were black.

 

Sorry, been at Broken Bow,Oklahoma for a few days. Every body needs a vacation,even retired people If the plugs are black,definitely rich from too much fuel,air cleaner dirty, clogged,etc. Did you have the float arm parallel with the carb body when you installed the new needle valve assembly? Yes there is a block off plug on the bottom of the carb at the front that you can CAREFULLY run a small drill bit through and then screw in a drywall screw and pop this plug out revealing a fuel mixture screw. Screw clockwise to close counting the turns. If more than 2 turns out,set at a base setting of two turns out from lightly seated(closed position) and try it there. You can then adjust it in or out and see how it does. If you have a carb adjuster or a small screw driver you can also fine tune this screw for best idle speed while it's running. This is mainly for the idle jet circuit (pilot jet). This mixture could be needed to be adjusted if all else has been ruled out that could be causing it to bog down a little.. OPT